The NHL is coming to Salt Lake City Utah. This is a happy day for me. For those that follow this blog, many of you know me as a Football freak, but my fandom and passion is for hockey.
I am a die-hard Colorado Avalanche fan. That will not be changing, my dad is from Boulder, we watch almost every Avs game together and it is a point of great pride that it is something he and I bond over. I will always root for the Avs first, but I love hockey, I will go to SLC games, I will buy SLC jerseys and will support them through the regular season until an eventual run-in with the Avs potentially.
But it doesn’t matter who you root for. It does not matter who I root for. Fundamentally, the purpose of this blog is to describe to this market why it will fall in love with and become a hockey town. I hope you will follow me on this journey. Lots of hockey tweets on Twitter and sports only tweets, here.
So without further ado, this is why this market will fall in love with hockey.
1. Because it’s still a Football Market
All you need to know, is that the sport that shares the most similarities with hockey, is football. Anyone who has ever lived here will tell you, this is a football market. The sports channels are driven by college football. People here love football. People will love hockey because of it.
Imagine the physicality of a safety running down into the box and blasting an oncoming running back. Now put that on ice at twice the speed. That’s hockey. The game is built off physicality, playoff hockey in particular is one of the most brutal and physical contact sports in our nation.
The older generation often complains about the physicality being taken out of football, it certainly has not been taken out of hockey, aside from rules preventing high hits and leaving your feet while completing a check, the sport is just about as physical as it gets. People who love the physicality of football will love hockey and ultimately that’s why it will thrive in the Utah market.
2. Because the game is fast, and fun as hell.
Hockey, come for the physicality and the fighting, stay for the tremendous skill. Hockey is a skill game. It’s about creating space on 200 feet of ice while moving at 30 mph, it is extremely difficult.
These are some of the best athletes on the planet period end of story. If you’re an RSL fan, you will love hockey. Imagine the passing strategy of soccer, without going backwards often and in much tighter confines. If you love ball movement in basketball, you will love hockey. The cycle game is a beautiful thing.
The cycle refers to the process of getting the hockey puck deep, using the corners and passing the puck around the offensive zone looking for shooting lanes, it’s beautiful when done well. The game is all about skill though, check out the below youtube video.
(click the link)
The action is also non stop, no sport has less stoppages than NHL hockey. Yes, the intermissions are long, but when the period gets going the action becomes non-stop.
Hockey 101 Bulleted
- Three 20 minute periods
- 20 minute breaks between those periods
- No ties
- OT for 5 minutes in the regular season 3 on 3 and then if still no winner a shootout
- Playoffs 5 on 5 hockey until someone scores
- 5 players LW C RW D D one goalie
- Stanley cup champions are built on the backs of goaltenders and up the center. Goalie and Center the most important positions.
- Draft system
- Small cap, largest cap in the NHL belongs to the Toronto Maple Leafs and at 97 million dollars total.
- The top player in the NHL is making 100 Million over 7 years, these are not NBA or NFL contracts.
Utah Is a Winter State and Hockey is the ultimate Winter Sport
Salt Lake could easily host a stadium series game or a winter classic. It’s cold here most of the year, hockey is a cold weather sport. It just fits.
If you don’t want to try hockey, fine, but it’s your loss. Hockey fans are incredibly friendly and a great group of people to become involved with. Keep it tuned here for more playoff hockey coverage as playoffs begin next week.
Utah hockey is on the way! Get excited!